Verdict pending in Exeter elder neglect death trial

Friday

Dec 1, 2017 at 4:17 PMDec 1, 2017 at 5:01 PM

By Hadley Barndollar hbarndollar@seacoastonline.com

BRENTWOOD — After 11 hours of deliberations, a jury has not reached a verdict in the trial of a Maryland woman accused of causing her grandmother’s death by leaving her on the floor of an Exeter mobile home in her own urine and feces.

Deliberations will continue Monday morning.

Meritel Saintil, 34, of Baltimore, is charged with negligent homicide, elder neglect and failure to report abuse, alleging she caused 75-year-old Nancy Parker’s death. Saintil and her mother, Katherine Saintil-Brown, are accused of allowing Parker to lie on the floor of her Willow Street home from Feb. 12-17, 2016, as she urinated and defecated on herself.

She later died from necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease, at a Massachusetts hospice. Saintil and her mother had been living with Parker. Saintil-Brown faces a separate trial in January.

The jury began deliberations lunchtime Thursday after hearing nearly four days worth of testimony.

The trial posed questions about end-of-life choices and a person's right to "self determination." The defense argued Parker had the right to live as she wished, no matter the conditions, considering social workers had deemed her of sound mind. Saintil, her attorneys said, was honoring her grandmother's wishes by not calling 911.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed Parker was a “stubborn” woman, who had a deep distrust in doctors and refused medical treatment, despite serious hygiene and care issues. She wanted to die in her own home without interference, defense attorney Justin Shepherd said. Parker also denied assistance from the state Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services.

During her time on the floor in February 2016 she told her family members not to call for help.

In closing statements Thursday, defense attorney Robin Melone said Saintil "loved this lady more than life itself. Nancy Parker was a staple and a constant. She knew what Nancy wanted."

"(Nancy) wanted the state of New Hampshire to leave her alone and my client tried to get them to leave her alone," Melone said. "And instead, they charged her with her grandmother’s murder. Let Meritel move on, let Meritel mourn. Tell the state it's none of their business how Nancy Parker lived."

Brandon Garod, assistant attorney general and elder abuse prosecutor, argued the case was not about self determination. "Self determination is the idea that people who are competent get to make decisions about their life," he said.

"They didn’t care enough to call for help, and that’s really what it comes down to," Garod said. "Now that all of this has happened, without question, she feels terrible. But at the time, she and her mother were only concerned about themselves."

Garod argued if Saintil and her mother had called for help on day one, Parker would have never ended up in the hospital. "Any reasonable person would have called for help in an hour," he said. "Leaving her in that position for five days was a gross deviation from what a reasonable person would do."

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